The Egyptian Mummy (1914)

I wanted to but couldn't!

hyped garbage

Excellent but underrated film

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Billy Quirk is a young man who decides that a good way to make some quick money would be sell a "mummy" to a nutty doctor (Lee Beggs) who thinks he has a procedure to bring the dead to life. Quirk wants the money to marry his girlfriend Constance Talmadge. Talmadge has such a small, unremarkable role that there is no indication of the great silent comedy star - such as in The Matrimaniac and Duchess of Buffalo, she would later become ( although oddly, one of her most memorable roles, for me, was as the Mountain Girl in Intolerance). This silent comedy short was just not that funny. What humor there was, except for the whole silly premise of the plot, was provided by the emancipated hobo playing the "mummy." Certainly of historical interest because of Talmadge and because of that worth a watch by silent comedy fans.

The emaciated guy playing the "mummy" is in fact very creepy looking! The actor is Joel Day and he is the real star of the film. Constance Talmadge is not on screen all that much. Billy Quirk is top billed but he is essentially the straight man here. The film is absolutely stolen by Day as the tramp turned mummy. It's very funny and well worth a look if you aren't expecting a Karloff-type mummy or wanting to see prime Constance Talmadge. There is even a horror genre plot element. The doctor, played by director Lee Beggs, is trying raise the dead and he thinks he has discovered "the elixir of life". I was laughing out loud as the nutty professor (or whatever he is supposed to be) believed he was being attacked by a real live and vicious mummy! The whole thing is ultra dumb and silly, but I was surprisingly entertained by this wild film. Joel Day is listed here in only a handful of films, but one of his other credits, Universal's MAN OF SHAME (1915), has him playing Death. Judging from his looks here, I'll bet he was effective as Mr. D. THE Egyptian MUMMY (1914) can be found on the NICKELODIA Volume 1 DVD from Unknown Video.

I laughed at this short, it was funny. And I was surprised that another Connie Talmadge film survived, and quite delighted to see her playing her perky self again. If only more of her films were still around. She was super at comedy.This short tells the story of a man who finds an unusual way to make a lot of money very quickly, so that he can marry the girl of his dreams. He enlists the aid of a hobo to play a mummy, so that he can sell his body for scientific experiments. Of course the mummy has to play dead, but has a very difficult time doing so. When he "comes alive" again pandemonium results. I give this short a 7 out of 10.

An unexceptional short which does not qualify as a precursor to later `mummy' films. Connie and Billy are young and in love... but her father does not approve. Billy's contrivances make no headway until the mummy of Ramses III is delivered to the house of Connie's father! Remember, this is a comedy not a horror movie.